YISD official gets job in Mission

Ricardo Lopez, area associate superintendent for the Ysleta Independent School District, was selected for superintendent at a school district in Mission, Texas.

On Tuesday, trustees for the Mission Consolidated Independent School District selected Lopez to lead the district.

Lopez, area associate superintendent for the YISD, has 18 years of education experience as a teacher, assistant principal, junior high school principal and high school principal.

As the area associate superintendent for the Ysleta districts, he oversees 25 campuses to increase graduation rates and improve SAT scores and raise standardized test scores.

Lopez could take control in Mission in August.

REPORTER

Alex Hinojosa

The Mission school district serves about 16,000 students, 2,200 employees and encompasses about 41 square miles that include the neighboring communities of Alton, Palmhurst and McAllen.

Lopez said he hopes to focus on the students needs and make the district a prime leader in education. A contract is being negotiated.

"It's a bittersweet moment," Lopez said. "But this is an opportunity that would help me professionally and move me to a place where my family can still call home."

In April, Lopez was named a finalist for at the Canutillo Independent School District along with Pedro Galaviz, director of secondary education at Round Rock Independent School District, and James Steinhauser, assistant superintendent for research and evaluation at the El Paso Independent School District.